Hospital tray for medicament cups and associated cards



May 6, 1969 l R. J. WOLFE 3,442,378

HOSPITAL TRAY FOR .MEDICAMENT CUPS AND ASSOCIATED CARDS Filed July 17,1967 v I f INVENTO. RUSSELL J. woLFE BY ATTORNEYS United gStates PatentO U.S. Cl. 20G-72 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The one piecethin-walled plastic tr-ay has rows of upwardly opening cup-shapedrecesses to hold medicament cups. Each recess opens at one side to thecenter of Ian upwardly opening card receiving slot, these slots havingalining end portions and protuberances at their centers with standingfaces projecting toward the recesses, the slant being upwardly Iandrearwardly. The top edge of each protuberance is in line with thecorresponding rear edges of the end portions of the slot, so that when acard or pack of cards, with the patients name and pertinentinstructions, is forced, bottom edge first, down into the slot it isbowed or flexed to fit into its slot around the protuberance, andbyvirtue of the slanting face of the latter, is both held under thepressure induced by the ilexure of the card, so as not to blow or fallout, and also at such tilted angle to the vertical that the `data isreadily visible from above the tray.

In the accompanying drawings FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of ahospital tray embodying the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlargedfragmentary vertical longitudinal sectional view taken on line 2--2,FIG. l. FIG. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical transverse sectionalview taken generally on line 3-3, FIG. l. FIG. 4 is an enlargedfragmentary top plan view of one of the cupshaped recesses for .amedicament cup and the slot for holding a card or pack of cardsassociated therewith.

The presenthospital tray is in the form of a one piece thin-walled bodyand preferably -made of a molded organic plastic fr lightness, althoughother sheet materials could obviously be used. The tray preferably has adown turned rim 11 which extends around the front edge 12 as well as theside edges 13 and rear edge 14. Along each side edge 13 the rim isformed with a downwardly opening hand recess 15 extending fore-and-aftand serving as a grip. In carrying the tray, the nurses fingers areplaced in the underside of the recess 15 and her palms on the upper sidethereof.

The tray has fore-and-aft and transverse rows o f upwardly openingcup-shaped recesses 16 each adapted to receive and retain the bottom ofa cup 18 for holding a prescribed medicament (not shown). These cups canbe made of any suitable material such as glass, plastic, paper, and canalso be of any suitable shape, being shown as being of upwardlyenlarging frusto-conical form.

The present invention is particularly concerned wth a holder for one ormore cards 19 associated with each cup 18 and its pocket 16. This cardor pack of cards will usually set forth the patients name and roomnumber together with pertinent instructions from the doctor as to thetime or method of administering the medicament. A feature of the cardholder is that the card is merely slid, bottom edge rst, downwardly intoits holder .and is automatically both releasibly secured under pressureso that it is not likely to blow away or fall from the holder, and alsothat the card is positioned at such slanting angle to the vertical as tobe readily readable from above the tray.

-To this end each card holder comprises an upwardly opening cardreceiving slot 20, the center part 21 of which forms a continuation ofand is varranged at the side of each cup-shaped recess remote from thefront edge 12 of the tray. Each slot 20 has alining end portions 22projecting generally parallel with the front edge 12 of the tray inopposite directions from the center portion 21 thereof. The body 10 ofthe tray is also formed to provide a protuberance 23 protrudinghorizontally from the central portion 21 of the card receiving slottoward the front edge 12 of the tray and toward the center of thecup-shaped recess 16 associated therewith. Another feature is that theupright side face 24 of each protuberance 23 facing the front edge 12 ofthe tray slopes downwardly and forwardly relative to the vertical, Afurther feature is that the top edge of this protuberance 23 is in linewith the rear edges 25 of the end portions 22 of the slot 20. Anotherfeature is that each cup-shaped recess 16 and its associated cardreceiving slot 20 have a common horizontal bottom 26.

In use, each cup 18 is filled with the medicament prescribed for aparticular patient and the name of the patient and room number, togetherwith any instructions from the doctor as to administration of themedicament, are placed on the card 19. A plurality or pack of cards maybe used. The cup 18 is then placed in one of the cup-shaped recesses 16and its card or pack of cards 19 are then pushed downwardly, bottom edgerst, into the companion slot 20, and in doing so the bottom edge of thecard or cards is forced to follow the slanting upright front face 24 ofthe protuberance 23, the ends of the cards fitting into the endextremities 22 of the slot. This slanting face 24 accomplishes twothings. First, it bows or exes the center part of the card or cards 19forwardly so that when the card or cards reaches the bottom 25 it isheld in its slot 20 under pressure induced by this ilexure of the cardor cards. Secondly, the card or cards assumes the slope of the uprightface 24 so that upon so being inserted they slant upwardly andrearwardly so as to be readily readable from above the tray. The form ofthe slots 20 also permits the use of unusually wide cards without takingup additional tray space.

As each patients room is reached, the cup 18 together with theassociated card or cards 19, are removed and placed at the patientsside.

Il claim:

1. A thin-walled body forming a hospital tray for holding a multiplicityof medicament-containing cups together with one or more cards adjacenteach cup, said cards facing toward the front edge of the tray andindicating the name of the patient `and any prescribed informationconcerning giving the medicament to that patient, and said body having aplurality of rows of upwardly opening cupshaped recesses shaped toreceive and retain, severally, the bottoms of said cups, wherein theinvention comprises an upwardly opening card receiving slot the centerpart of which forms a continuation of and is arranged at the side ofeach cup-shaped recess remote from said front edge of said tray, each ofsaid card receiving slots having alining end portions projectinggenerally parallel with said front edge of `said tray in oppositedirections away from said cup-shaped recess, and a protuberanceprotruding horizontally from the centralportion of each card receivingslot toward said front edge of said tray and t0- ward the center of thecup-shaped recess associated therewith, whereby a card placed downwardlyedgewise in each card receiving slot must be flexed to it around saidproturberance to be retained therein under pressure so as not to be indanger of being blown away or accidentally falling out.

2. A body forming a hospital tray as set forth in claim 1 wherein theupright side face of each protuberance facing said front edge of thetray slopes upwardly and rearwardly wtih reference to the vertical,whereby the cards contained in said card receiving slots are positionedso as to be tilted upwardly and rearwardly so that the names and datathereon can be visible from above the tray.

3. A body forming a hospital tray as set forth in claim 2 wherein thetop edge of each protuberance is generally in line with the companiontop edges of said end portions of the companion slot, whereby the cardis so exed and brought to a tilted position merely by forcing the cardbottom edge first into its slot.

4. A body forming a hospital tray as set forth in claim 1 wherein thehorizontal transverse width of said alining end portions of each cardreceiving slot is suiciently great to permit the insertion of aplurality of said cards.

5. A body forming a hospital tray as set forth in claim 15 1 whereineach cup-shaped recess and its associated card receiving slot have acommon horizont-a1 bottom.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,659,485l 11/1953 Duley 40-324 X2,821,307 ,Y 1/1958 Linsley' 206-72 X 2,895,602 7/1959 Hait ...A..,"206-72 X 10 cHANCELLoRE; HARRIS, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R.

